Alright Gentlemen, How Do We Kill Lash?
by KyliaQuilor
Summary: Sequel to Late Night Death Threats. Rose and Grant go back to the states to have the meeting with Skye about how to deal with Lash. But before they can have the meeting, they all get to have some harsh words back and forth, which is totally fun - and why does Skye have a Human Sparkplug with her?


**Disclaimer:** Really. I don't own it. I _don't!_ I promise.

 **Note 1:** Christian Ward is canonically a Republican, so I am having him have been one in this fic. It isn't canon what elected office Papa Ward (if any) had, but I'm having him have been a Congressman.

 **Note 2:** This little oneshot series is insisting I write more of it. My muse seems to like it.

 **Note 3:** Unbeta'd. All mistakes are mine.

Alright Gentlemen, How Do We Kill Lash?

By Alkeni

 **Topeka, Kansas**

 **March 13th, 2016**

"Tell me again why we're having this meeting in the middle of Republican flyover country?" Rose demanded of her brother as they stepped out of their rented car and onto the sidewalk. Grant and Skye had arranged for their second face-to-face meeting to be here, on this date. In about fifteen minutes. Rose had insisted on being there for the meeting, rather than just running support.

They'd be meeting in an office building on a floor that was rented by a company that didn't know they were owned by a company that was in turn owned by S.H.I.E.L.D. The agency had managed to acquire a few front companies since the fall, though nowhere near as many as they'd had in the past.

Grant looked over at her, eyebrow raised. "Republican flyover country?"

"Yea. This is Kansas. You don't get much more Republican than this state, apart from maybe Texas. And its an inland state, far from the 'coastal liberal elite'. Conservative pundits like to call it the 'real America' and say that liberals just see it as 'flyover country'." Rose had voted Democratic in the first election she'd been able to vote in mostly so she could experience the pleasure of voting against her father in his congressional race – he'd still won, unfortunately – but she'd long since settled on the Democrats because she preferred their policies. She didn't like every idea they had, but that was just how American politics work. "Don't you pay attention to politics at all?" She added, pulling the door open for him.

Grant shook his head. "Not really. I'm not even a registered voter." Rose blinked and followed after him.

"Wait, what?" She hurried after him as he walked quickly to the elevators on the other end of the building's lobby. "You're not a registered voter?" Rose reached past Grant and pushed the 'up' button before Grant could, feeling a small moment of childish triumph. Back when they'd been children they'd always competed to see who could press elevator buttons first.

"No, I'm not." Grant confirmed. Rose watched him drum his fingers against his leg as they waited. If Rose didn't know her brother better, she'd say he was nervous about this meeting.

"Well, why the hell not?" Rose demand. She hadn't actually voted in person at a polling place in years, but she'd sent in her absentee ballots every time while she'd been traipsing around Europe and South America on her private security gigs. And why the hell wasn't Grant registered? The elevator opened and they stepped inside. Once inside, Grant looked over to her.

"Well, for one, I'm a wanted criminal. You know, for being a 'Hydra Terrorist'. And I'm pretty sure the FBI thinks I killed Christian, Mom and Dad, even if they can't prove it." As far as Rose was concerned, killing Christian and their parents fell into the 'very justifiable homicide' category. "For another, around the time I turned 18, I was in the middle of a forest in Wyoming. By the time I was done there, it really wasn't a priority. I just haven't bothered with it since."

 _Well... there is that._ Rose nodded, "Yea. Point. Sorry." She'd never believed that Grant was dead, despite what their parents had told her and Thomas after the 'attack' on the Juvenile Detention Center he was being held. She'd always assumed that her parents had found a way to stuff him in a quiet box somewhere, where he couldn't embarrass the family. It was one of the many reasons – many, many, many – reasons she'd joined the Army right out of High School, rather than going to College like she'd once intended. Anything to get away from her family – she wouldn't take their money to pay for her education if it was the only money on the planet.

 _And since they wrote me out of the will, and I know Grant's not in it... I suppose Christan's wife and Kids will get some of it, but Thomas probably has most of it now._

But finding out, from Christian on the TV no less, that Grant had been a member of a 'Nazi Death Cult' – not that it was really Nazi, she got that now – was... well, she hadn't been happy. A couple of the people she'd served with had been recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. after they left the Army, and when she saw the casualty lists – that _all_ of them were dead, had died on the day S.H.I.E.L.D. fell or during the furious battles before and after at all their bases...

Well, when she'd first seen Grant nine months ago, she'd proceeded to start beat the shit out of him. She had no way of knowing if he had anything to do with her friend's deaths – he hadn't – but he'd been convenient. Also, she was pissed as hell at him for, you know, _never letting her know he was alive!_

Grant, unsurprisingly, hadn't just taken the beating quietly, after he'd managed to – barely – get the upper hand on her for a moment, he'd pulled back and insisted she give him a chance to explain. Which she had. Grant was her brother. She had to give him that chance.

By the time the explanation was done...

Well, Rose wanted to get more of that resurrection drug that had been given to this 'Coulson' and to John Garrett... just so she could bring Garrett back and use him for target practice. With an anti-tank gun.

"It's fine." Grant said. "Its not like you meant to bring up the woods. Besides... just mentioning them isn't going to cause any problems. It was nearly seventeen years ago."

"And you've really only _just_ started your recovery, Grant." Rose countered. The elevator dinged on their floor – the 26th – and Rose dropped her hand to her waist. The one upside to having the meeting in a place like Kansas was that she could carry almost any gun she wanted openly. Not that she didn't also have another pistol in a shoulder holster and several knives on her person.

The elevator opened to reveal an African American woman that Rose didn't recognize. Grant didn't seem to recognize her, or at least he didn't say any sort of name.

The woman was wearing civilian clothing, but Rose could see the concealed gun and unless she was much mistaken, the knife in the woman's boot. The woman was unarmed, but she did have one of those hand-held metal detectors in her hand.

"Hold out your arms." She said tersely.

"Yea, not going to happen." Grant replied coolly. "I'll be keeping my weapons, and so will my sister."

"I won't be taking your weapons. Agent Johnson just wants to know what you have."

"Two pistols, two combat knives, a block of C4 and a detonator." Rose replied, deadpan. She'd leave it to the woman to decide if she was serious or not. Rose was, but there was no reason to make it easy.

"The same, but swap out the C4 with garrotte wire." Ward added. "And a set of lockpicks, if those count as weapons. Now get out of the way. This is a meeting about how S.H.I.E.L.D. can work _with_ us against Lash, not a meeting about how many weapons we're carrying. How many weapons is Skye carrying?"

"Just the one pistol." Skye's voice came from behind the black woman. Walking by her side was someone that Rose didn't remember the name of, but she did recognize him. One of the old-style in Inhumans. Had electricity powers or something. "I don't need much more to deal with you."

"Yes, because bringing the building down on all of us and the other people here is a great idea." Rose pointed out. "And I suppose the Sparkplug doesn't have a weapon either?"

"The Sparkplug?" The other man said. "Is that what you guys call me?"

Grant shook his head. "That's what she calls you." Grant jerked his head towards Rose, and Rose just rolled her eyes. "I call you Lincoln, since that's your name. Or are you Agent Campbell now?"

"I'm not an Agent, no." The man, Lincoln, replied. He was pretty good looking, in a somewhat bland sort of way. But then, pretty much _everyone_ who worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra or one of the other factions involved in this ever-swirling game of under the surface conflict for powered people was either completely ugly or very good looking. It seemed statistically improbable at best.

"I didn't think we agreed on your sister being here." Skye pointed out.

"Still upset I left you death threats in the middle of the night?" Rose replied. "Poor widdle Skye, can't handle a -"

Grant blinked and looked over at her. "Wait, you – Rose!" Rose didn't roll her eyes this time. _Oh for the love of god Grant, she deserves a death threat or two. You've got to make sure the other side knows the consequences of a double-cross._

Skye seemed about to say something, but before she could, Lincoln stepped forward. "Before everyone start's arguing back and forth about death threats and the fact that Skye hates the both of you and neither of you are very fond of Skye either, there's one thing I'd like to say." He extended a hand to Grant. "Thanks."

Rose looked at the hand suspiciously, and then its owner. She saw her brother doing the same. "For what? Agreeing to this meeting? I didn't do it for you."

"I know. Coulson is going to get your brother out of prison in exchange for your help. But without you helping Skye and Coulson, I probably would have died in that Hydra base in the Arctic before any rescue could have been done. As it was, I was nearly a goner. So thanks."

Rose blinked. _Someone who works for S.H.I.E.L.D. being civil to Grant?_ She didn't believe it – but then she saw the dagger-eyes anger in Skye's face as she looked to Lincoln. Which only got more severe as Grant took the Sparkplug's hand and shook it.

"Well, you're welcome then." Grant said. He took his hand back. "So, shall we get this little meeting started? I think we can all agree Lash belongs in the ground. So let's get to that."

Rose blinked, then shook her head. _Sometimes you worry me Grant._

"Let's." Lincoln agreed. "We can talk in here." He pointed to a conference room just down the hall from the elevator. Skye shot him another glare, but he didn't seem to notice. Rose followed her brother as they walked into the conference room.

 _Alright gentlemen, How do we kill Lash?_


End file.
